LAFAYETTE, Ind. — State Sen. Brandt Hershman will not be accepting an invitation to debate Justin Notoras, his Democratic opponent in the District 7 state Senate race.

Greater Lafayette Progressives and Indiana Moral Mondays are sponsors of the debate and WBAA Radio news director, Stan Jastrzebski, agreed to act as moderator. The invitation was extended at the end of September.

Hershman said the invitation originally was submitted through his legislative office and he requested it be sent instead to his campaign address. But the invitation never came through.

Even if Hershman received a formal invitation, however, he said he would not have accepted because Greater Lafayette Progressives, a partisan organization, is a co-sponsor of the event.

"It would be entirely inappropriate for a partisan group to be the sponsor of a debate, so I won’t be doing it," Hershman said.

Debby Parisi, a founding member of Greater Lafayette Progressives, said the group reached out to local Republican organizations to co-sponsor the debate, but none accepted the proposition.

Parisi, however, said the lack of another partisan sponsor would not influence the tone of the debate.

"We’re really hoping for it to be audience-submitted questions filtered through a moderator," Parisi said, noting the format would limit bias.

Notoras agreed.

"Regardless of the person or people who made the arrangements for this event, it has no effect on the questions that the people in attendance would be interested in having answered," Notoras said.

Hershman said he would be open to participating in a debate with nonpartisan sponsorship, although his schedule in the coming weeks might not permit it.

"I’m never hesitant to discuss the issues, but we’re right at the 30-day mark ... and I think it would be difficult to schedule a debate at this point," Hershman said.

Although the deadline to accept the debate invitation was Oct. 5, Parisi said Greater Lafayette Progressives extended the deadline and sent an invitation to Hershman's home address.

Parisi and Notoras said they hope Hershman will accept the invitation because voters deserve the opportunity to learn more about the candidates before the upcoming election.

Whether Hershman attends, Notoras said he will be on hand to answer questions from his constituency. In that case, Parisi said, the event will run more like a town hall. The event is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the Tippecanoe Public Library, 627 South St.

"The public would benefit from such an event simply to know what their options are on Election Day," Notoras said.